Charlie Shiel will get his first starting chance to show he’s next on the lineage of great Scottish scrum-halves against Cardiff Blues as Edinburgh seek to remain on top of their conference heading to the Guinness PRO14 play-offs.
The 22-year-old has had to bide his time behind Henry Pyrgos and Nic Groom but gets the nod against the Blues, a tricky opponent for Edinburgh at Murrayfield at least in recent times.
Shiel, the son of former Edinburgh and Scotland centre Graham, is one of five changes as head coach Richard Cockerill continues to rotate personnel even with so many of his squad in purdah with Scotland for the Six Nations.
“It’s a blank canvas for Charlie,” said assistant coach Calum MacRae, “He’s got credit in the bank because of the strong performances he’s had coming off the bench.
“How good can he be? He’s got a good skill-set, he sees the game well, he’s a very instinctive player and it’s important he has a performance that not only encompass the parts that come naturally to him but also that he can show that he can drive the team on a wider stage as well as making good decisions when he sees the opportunities for himself.
“It’s a very different dynamic coming off the bench to starting. This is a good chance for him to show us his game control and that he’s managing the game appropriately like the other guys in his position have done well in difficult conditions.”
Edinburgh have benefitted from the return of some national squad players, notably Grant Gilchrist, who had a storming few minutes as a replacement for Scotland in Rome and – as well as being captain this week – has set an exemplary standard while flitting between club and country this last few weeks, said MacRae.
“He’s brilliant,” said the former centre, now defensive specialist. “He’s taken his minutes for Scotland where he gets them, but one thing I’ve been very impressed with is his appetite to come back and pull on the Edinburgh shirt.
“You talk about how guys are mentally, having come in from the international stuff, but I have no doubts at all about Gilko as an individual. He’s highly motivated to win for Edinburgh and this week is a good example of that so I’m sure he’ll lead the team well.”
Cardiff have a decent record at Murrayfield with a few recent wins there, while Edinburgh have the mob hand on the Blues when they meet at the Arms Park, but that’s just the randomness of rugby, says MacRae.
“To Cardiff’s credit, they are a very, very good attacking team,” he continued. “They like to move ball quickly and that is something we are going to have to get into the middle of and upset.
“They have come up here and got results, that is something we are aware of but not something we are going to focus on too much, it is about our own performance. We will prep as we do for any other team.
“There has been a bit of a see-saw in results with us getting results down there but we prepare exactly the same so I don’t think there is anything in that other than they have taken their opportunities when they have come up.
“We have to make sure we limit those opportunities as much as possible.”
Edinburgh team (vs Cardiff Blues, BT Murrayfield, Friday 7.35pm, live on Premier Sports) Damien Hoyland; Eroni Sau, James Johnstone, George Taylor, Duhan van der Merwe; Simon Hickey, Charlie Shiel; Jamie Bhatti, Mike Willemse, Simon Berghan; Lewis Carmichael, Grant Gilchrist (capt); Nick Haining, Luke Crosbie, Viliame Mata.
Replacements: Cameron Fenton, Pierre Schoeman, Pietro Ceccarelli, Sam Thomson, John Barclay, Jaco van der Walt, Chris Dean.